Weekly Tech Wrap: In our fast-paced world, it’s easy to miss some of the biggest news stories of the week. But fear not, we’ve got you covered (at least on the tech front) with a list of the top 5 tech-related news stories of the week. There’s a lot to unpack in this week’s tech roundup: OpenAI launched its Google search rival, Meta unveiled its new and most powerful language model yet, Google backtracked on its promise to remove third-party cookies from Chrome, and more. Without further ado, let’s dive into the top 5 tech stories of the week.
1) OpenAI launches Google Search rival:
After months of rumors, Sam Altman, the startup OpenAI, finally unveiled a search engine competitor to Google, called SearchGPT. The new feature is currently in its “prototype” phase and is only available via a waitlist, but it is expected to be rolled out to all users in the future.
In a blog post about the new search feature, OpenAI wrote: “We're testing SearchGPT, a prototype of new search features designed to combine the power of our AI models with information from the web to give you fast, timely answers with clear and relevant resources.”
SearchGPT’s homepage looks similar to Google’s. We get the message, “What are you looking for?” However, after you type in the query, you get an instant answer, similar to Perplexity or Google’s discredited AI overview feature.
2) Meta introduces the latest language model for GPT-4o:
Meta announced its latest open-source language model, Llama 3.1 405B, which is said to rival GPT-4o and Claude 3.5 Sonnet in human evaluations and benchmarking. The new model comes with a 128k token context window and is said to enable new use cases such as synthetic data generation and model distillation.
3) Apple Maps comes to the web:
Tech giant Apple has unveiled the public beta of Apple Maps on the web, giving users worldwide access to the service directly from their browsers. Accessible via both Chrome and Safari browsers, the new web-based Apple Maps brings driving and walking directions, fuel station information and extensive place details directly to users’ desktops.
Users will reportedly now be able to get driving and walking directions, search for different places, and view detailed information such as photos, hours of operation, ratings, and reviews, all from within their browser. This web-based version of Apple Maps is intended to provide a robust navigation tool without the need for a dedicated app.
Additionally, users can order food directly from the place card in Maps, adding an extra layer of convenience. The curated Guides feature helps users find recommended restaurants, shopping spots, and attractions in different cities, making it a valuable tool for both everyday use and travel navigation.
4) Google reverses decision to remove third-party cookies in Chrome:
In a major policy shift, Google announced Monday that it will no longer move forward with its plan to remove third-party cookies from its Chrome browser. Instead, the tech giant will introduce a new system that will let users select their tracking preferences across Google's search products. The new approach is designed to give users more control over their browsing data, said Anthony Chavez, Google's vice president of Privacy Sandbox, who outlined the changes in a blog post.
“Rather than phasing out third-party cookies, we’re building a new experience in Chrome that lets users make informed decisions about their tracking preferences,” Chavez wrote. “These choices will apply to their entire web browsing and can be adjusted at any time.”
5) Elon Musk's X now allows users to disable comments on posts:
Elon Musk’s social media platform X (formerly Twitter) will soon introduce a new feature that will allow users to disable links in comments on their posts. While the feature has not been officially announced and there is no confirmation as to why it was created, the most likely scenario is that it is an attempt to combat the plague of spambots on the platform, which tend to leave self-promotional links in comments on people’s posts.
The first was first spotted by independent app researcher Nima Owji and later confirmed by X's senior director of security engineering, Christopher Stanley, in a response to a post. In response to a post about the new feature, Stanley said, “My team built this.”
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Published: Jul 28, 2024, 2:40 PM IST